Laundry drier



April 16, 1940. E. J. DowNEs LAUNDRY DRIER Filed April 6, 1939 I //v1//v Edward J. flpwnes Patented Apr. 16, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlca 2,197,100 LAUNDRY mum Edward J. Downes, Albany. N. Y. Application April 6, 1939, Serial No. 266,429

2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in laundry driers and particularly to improvements whereby the capacityof such driers may be substantially increased.

5 One of the Widely used prises aforaminous cylinder of wire screen or the likewhich is rotatably mounted with its axis horizontal, and the interior of which is divided into a plurality of separate compartments by l means of transverse screen partitions. The cylinder is enclosed in a stationary housing and the interior is heated by circulating'hot air, or otherwise, whereby the moisture is evaporated from the parcels of washings placed in the compartlB ments. In order to tumble the wet goods about in the drier the cylinder is provided with a plurality of battles which extend radially inward for a comparatively short distance and serve to carry the wet goods upwardly from the botzc tom of the cylinder as it rotates and drop them again to the bottom Irom a point usually above the axis of the cylinder.

In modern laundries each customer's wash is dried separately and the volume of work received 25 from different customers vvaries widely. In some cases the volume is extremely small and in others extremely large. The dryin cylinder must be of substantial diameter in order to accommodate a large volume 01 work and hence when only a 30 small bundle is being dried in one of the compartments there is a considerable waste space.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a simple, readily insertable and removable means whereby one or more of the cylindri- 355 cal compartments in the drier may be subdivided into two separate compartments which may be used simultaneously for drying small parcels of work.

I accomplish this end by means of the novel elements and the combinations and arrangements thereof described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a side elevation view of a laundry drier partly broken away to show the drier cylinder; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation view of the ioraminous cylinder;

' Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my quick de-- tachable partition;

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross section view of the ioraminous cylinder showing my partitionin place;

Fig. 5 is a iragmentary sectional view of the latch end of my partition;

a Fig. 6 is ,a fragmentary elevation view showtypes of drier com ing a portion of the sliding gate in the drying cylinder and the guide in which it slides; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the rivet used to secure the handle and clamping portion of the latch together. a in the drawing, I generally represents the drier having the horizontal screen cylinder 2 rotatably mounted therein in suitable bearings 3. lhe drier housing is provided with a plurality of doors or gates 4 which may be raised to periii mit access to the cylinder adjacent any one of the several compartments which are formed in the cylinder by transverse screen partitions 5, and each compartment in the cylinder is also provided with an arcuate sliding gate 6 which may be raised to permit access to the compartment. Extending longitudinally of the cylinder are a plurality of diametrically opposite metal baifies 1, four of which are shown in Fig. 4, and which project radially into the interior-of the cylinder. go

In order to divide any one of the compartments into two smaller compartments, I provide a removable screen partition represented generally by the numeral 9 and which is shown in perspective in Fig. 3. These removable partitions comprise an appropriate rectangular frame l0 having a width substantially equal to the axial length of one of the compartments in the cylinder and a length slightly less than the clear distance between two diametrically opposed 3o baffles l. A bifurcated sheet metal member ii is hingedly secured to the bottom or the frame as, for example, by rings l2. At the other end of the frame are two, baffle-engaging members i3 and i4. The member i3 is rigidly secured to the frame l0 and extends slightly beyond the top thereof so that it engages the bafile i as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The member i4 is pivotally secured to the partition 9 by means of a belt or rivet l5 which extends through the central rib or element l! and also through a handle element it on the other side of the screen ii. In order that the latch i4 may be rotated by means of the handle 58, the rivet I5 is provided with a central, cylindrical, bearing portion and two. at

square end portions l9 and 20 which pass through square holes in the latch member it and the handle l8. Thus, when the handle it is turnedit rotates the rivet, and the rivet, in turn, rotates the latch member M. I

In order to position the partition 9 in one of the compartments, the sliding gate 6 is raised and the bifurcated element II is positioned over one of the baiiles as shown in Fig. 4.' This can conveniently be done by disposing the main por B6 sliding gatefi in the 80 in the purview of the appended claimsmay be forwardly to the position tion of the partition 9 in angular relation to the bifurcated element portion as shown by the dotted lines 9' in Fig. 4.

The handle I8 is then turned sufliciently to permit the member I! to clear 'the baille diametrically opposite the bafile engaged by the bifurcated element l I and the partition is pushed 9 shown in Fig. 4 until the element l3 engages the baiile I whereupon the handle 18 and the connected bathe-engagin element M are turned to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5 to secure the partition 9 in place. The edges 2| of the baflies 1 are rounded and the member [4 is made of yielding material, such as spring steel, so as tightly to=engage the baflle '1 when the partition 9 is in place.

as a closure element. or

The partition serves gate which may be unlatched and swung about its hinged connection with the bifurcated element to provide access to the half compartment on the side thereof which is remote from the cylinder.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment and have referred to it as:

a laundry drier, it is to be understood that the words which I have tion rather than of limitation and that the device may be used in the dry-cleaning and other arts for drying purposes. Hence, changes withused are words of descripmade without departing from the true scope and spirit of my invention in its broader aspects.

What I claim is:

1. A removable partition for the cylinder of a laundry drier having a plurality of circumfer-- entially-spaced, radially-disposed baflies therein, said partition comprising a screen, a channel member adapted to fit over one of said baflles,

a hinged connection between said member and one end of said screen, whereby said member and screenmay beangula'rly disposed to each other to facilitate positioning said member over a baffie. and a latch secured to the opposite end of .said screen and adapted to engage a baflle. substantially opposite said first mentioned bafileo tightly engage one 'of said-baflies, a second 'portion, a flexible connection between said portions, whereby they may be angularly disposed to each other to facilitate positioning the bifurcated por-'v tion' over one of said bailies, and a latch on said second portion adapted to engage the baflle diametrically jopposite the bafljle engaged by the bifurcated portion;

ED ARD J; nowuns. 3o 

